It's not Luke Combs; it's his team.
The country music singer publicly apologized to a fan Wednesday whom his legal team had successfully sued for $250,000, apparently all without his knowledge.
The fan, Nicol Harness, was selling homemade, Combs-themed drink tumblers on Amazon when she received the copyright infringement lawsuit from Combs' representatives in an email. She told WFLA the email arrived in her junk folder while she was in the hospital dealing with congestive heart failure, and by the time she saw the suit, she said she had missed the 21-day window to respond, landing her liable for trademark infringement.
Harness told WFLA she had sold 18 Combs tumblers for $20 each, amounting to a total of $360, before she was ordered to pay $250,000 in statutory damages, the publication said.
Though Harness had sold other homemade items as well, the lawsuit caused Amazon to block her from withdrawing the money from her Amazon seller's account, which still held $5,500.
"It's very stressful. I don't have money to pay my bills," she told WFLA. "I just want this resolved. I didn't mean any harm to Luke Combs. I quit selling the tumbler. I pulled it down. I just don't understand."
Combs addressed the lawsuit the day after Harness spoke to WFLA, showing the interview in a TikTok and saying he was "completely and utterly" unaware of the situation.
"We do have a company that goes after folks — supposedly large corporations operating internationally — that make millions and millions of dollars making counterfeit T-shirts, things of that nature, running illegal businesses. And apparently, this woman, Nicol, has somehow gotten wrapped into that," the singer said. "That makes me absolutely sick to my stomach."
Combs said he would be sending Harness double the amount of money in her Amazon account — $11,000 — so that she "doesn't have anything to worry about." He also shared he'd be selling a similar tumbler on his website, with all proceeds donated to Nicol and her family to help with medical bills.
The cup is currently for sale on his official website for $20.
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